Sometimes I forget that I live on one of the best (if not the best) streets in Rochester: Park Avenue. While it’s not perfect, there are definitely some perks to living on the trendy street, including easily being able to participate in community events such as the 19th Annual Park Avenue Holiday Open House. While I missed it last year, I heard tons of ads for it on the radio this year, so I had to check it out.

Visitors enjoy the Holiday Open House at the intersection of Park and Berkeley.

When my fiance got home from work, we headed out, going first toward Alexander Street. Tons of people were out walking around, admiring the tree in the park near Barrington Street as well as the lights on the decorated houses and, of course, browsing the shops. Being a shy person myself, I feel more comfortable walking into a store that has plenty of people than on a normal, slow day; I figure there will be enough people present that I won’t feel pressured to buy. The downside, though, is that many of the shops are extremely crowded. Since I live so close, I just make a mental note of the places I enjoyed most and would like to return to later. My favorite stops included…

The Generosity Store at 39 Goodman St. They have so many cute, unique items (especially for wine lovers)! Everyone was very nice, and proceeds from the shop benefit the School of the Holy Childhood and Golisano Children’s Hospital.

Park Avenue Comics & Games at 713 Park Ave. OK, so this one was more for my fiance. Without giving away any details, let’s just say I got a few Christmas gift ideas there!

Sinbad’s at 719 Park Ave. This is one of my favorite restaurants in Rochester. Plus, they had free warm apple cider on the front porch. Mmmmmm…

F. Oliver’s Oils & Vinegars at 747 Park Ave. If you had told me this morning that I would be tasting (a.k.a. drinking) straight balsamic vinegar that night, I would have thought that was quite strange. But once I tasted their 18-year old special reserve, I was sold; they all tasted so delicious! A bottle or two from there would make a great gift for any chef on your list.

On the way home, we get a delicious pasta sample from Cobbs Hill Pasta & Grill (might have to get dinner there tomorrow night) and stopped at JM Parks Co. for a couple of scarves. They had some beautiful jewelery, too; I’ll be returning soon!

Another great holiday celebration in Rochester is approaching quickly – St. Patty’s Day will be upon us in little over 16 days as of this post! And while most people in town are aware of the monster parade at 12:30pm and have plans to visit their favorite IrishPub, I’d like to encourage young Rochesterians to begin the celebrations a bit earlier. Johnny’s 14th Annual Runnin’ of the Green is a 5 mile run that Saturday morning at 10:30am, and what better way to feel good about a day of indulgence then to burn a few hundred calories jogging around our beautiful city first? If you know Rochester, you know there’s a 50/50 chance that St. Patty’s day will be warm and sunny. Yea, sure, it could also be snowing, it’s a toss-up…but I’m optimistic about this year!

I know what many of you are thinking: “5 miles is a long run, and I already gave up on my new year’s resolution to work out more…” Well, get back into it!! Sure, 5 miles is a substantial distance, but you don’t have to make record time, and 2+ weeks is just enough time to prepare. It’s a huge race, so there’s likely to be people to keep you company no matter what your pace. It’s really all about the experience of participating in the race; even if you jog slowly and take over an hour to finish, I guarantee you’ll still have fun!

New Year’s Eve gives us occasion to look back and reflect on the last 364 days, and then look forward with optimism and ambition. Even in the more difficult years, such as this one has been for many young professionals, the hope and belief that things will get better if we work hard and focus on our goals generally remains strong for the 48 hours straddling the calendar change, making it one of my favorite times to celebrate.

One of my favorite signs of the holiday season, the Liberty Pole

A favorite exercise of mine is to think back to a few of my best calendar years: the accomplishments, unique experiences, and intimate relationships that made up my life during those periods. If you’re having trouble being optimistic, think of those times and realize that situations can change very quickly. Half of the challenge of getting out of a rut is staying positive and having faith that good things are on their way.

As for our fair city, I think 2011 was good, but 2012 certainly has the potential blow it out of the water. There are a slew of development projects in the works, more employers moving back to the City of Rochester every month, and at least for now we know who our mayor is (remember last year when that wasn’t the case…?).

At this time of year, we hear so much talk about the holidays in big cities. NYC has that spectacular tree. The McCallisters went to Paris for Christmas, but left Kevin Home Alone (OK, so I had a hard time thinking of anything but the Rockefeller tree).

My sad, (cheap), post-college tree. It contains a few new decorations, but mostly leftovers from college. At least Bonnie seems to like it all right (lower left-hand corner).

But for me this year, Rochester is the best place for pre-holiday life. Here are five reasons why I’m glad to call Rochester home during advent.

In terms of shopping, Rochester has everything I could possibly need. Three malls within 20 or 30 miles, plus numerous shopping stores and plazas to boot. Where I’m from, we have one mall and a couple of shopping plazas all in one single area; needless to say, nowhere near the amount of options available in Rochester.

Despite having more options, Rochester has significantly less traffic than our big-city counterparts. Yes, don’t get me wrong; some of those lines at Kohl’s have been extremely long. The good news is, we have few traffic jams and those we have often last minutes rather than hours.

Rochester residents have plenty of holiday entertainment options. Sure, we might not have the Rockettes or big-name celebs for Broadway shows, but we have plenty to do around the holidays. You can learn about some of these events by visiting various community calendars, including the Democrat and Chronicle’s.

Rochesterians prefer to GIVE rather than receive, as the United Way’s recent ROC the Day proves. OK, so this doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the holidays. However, it’s a testament to everyone here that Rochester donated more than a half million dollars to charities in one day, especially a day that fell smack at the beginning of the season. I’m happy to be around people like that any time, let alone the holidays.

We usually have snow on Christmas (and months before and months after). While we may be getting “gipped” on our snow this year, I’m sure there aren’t too many complaints. Although a little snow on Christmas wouldn’t hurt!

What do you enjoy most about the holidays in Rochester?

No matter what you love or hate, happy holidays to all who are celebrating this season!

The Christmukkah Bar Crawl is a creation of the Sweeney siblings, Kristi and Devin. It grew out of an interfaith Park Ave-area apartment home’s annual holiday party dating back to 2004. Hitting the downtown bar scene for the first time in 2009 as a free-style celebration with no set schedule or planning, the gathering was an immediate hit and expectations grew immensely for the following year. In 2010, with a bit more planning and promotion, the event was amplified to almost 100 crawlers, raising over $600 for its designated cause, the Open Door Mission.

The Open Door Mission of Rochesteris a Christian-based shelter helping Rochester’s less-fortunate men, women and children. The donated funds help the Mission to accommodate all those in need of a warm meal during the holiday season. Every year the Mission hosts a large-scale Christmas-style dinner, and the Christmukkah donations go directly toward supporting this celebration of the giving spirit.

A common complaint I hear from young professionals in the Rochester area is that there is not enough to do. My response is that if you are really being honest with yourself, its not that there’s nothing to do, its that there isn’t always something to do whenever you want to do something. The reality is that Rochester is chock-full of great events like this one, so if you find yourself with not enough fun things to do, mark your calendar now and get out this Saturday with your ugly holiday sweater or Santa hat to support a great cause and enjoy your community’s festive spirit. Look for Devin, Leo or myself and be sure to say hi!

Foodlink is very thankful for the abundance of support it received through the 2010 holiday season.

Check Out Hunger ran in participating Wegmans stores through the Thanksgiving holiday. During the five week campaign, $688,214 were raised to fight local hunger. Thank you to all of Wegmans’ customers who donated to the campaign at the check out line.

LunchByte Systems committed to donate $500,000 over the next two years to Foodlink’s BackPack Program. The BackPack Program is designed to provide food insecure children with kid-friendly, healthy foods during the weekends or over school breaks. This generous donation will assure that we have enough food to fill the bags, increase the number of schools that participate in the program and support all of the operational needs to execute this program efficiently.

Food for Families which is sponsored by TOPS Friendly Markets, WROC-TV and FOX Rochester is a one day food and fund drive held on December 10, 2010. Through the efforts of these partners and the community we were able to raise nearly $30,000.00 and 50,000lbs of food. Thank you to everyone who took the time to come out on that frigid day in December and make a donation!

Foodlink would also like to take the time to thank all of the individuals, social groups and corporations that hosted food drives or made monetary donations!

Each month, EYP compiles a “Top Ten” list of events we think Rochester YPs would enjoy at Eastman House. With so many things going on at the Museum, we try our best to list a variety of happenings. Holidays are always a wonderful time to bring family and out-of-town guests to the historic house.

1. Thursday, November 11 at 6 p.m.Artist Bastienne Schmidt in PersonShe will share work from her acclaimed 1997 series American Dreams, as well as from her latest project, Home Stills, a multimedia exhibition project and book about female identity refracted through popular culture.

2. Friday, November 12 at 8 p.m.Nine Nation AnimationA dazzling collection of new and award-winning animated shorts that spans animation styles and the globe.

4. Thursday, November 18 at 8 p.m.Andy Warhol Screen TestsA selection of 20 four-minute, silent film portraits of people who visited Andy Warhol’s Factory taken from more than 500 made by Warhol between 1964 and 1967.

7. Friday, November 19 at 8 p.m.The Agony and The Ecstasy of Phil SpectorThe life and music of the pioneering songwriter and record producer whose “Wall of Sound” brought life to such classic hits as The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ ” and the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” is examined in this artfully edited and revealing new documentary.

9. Wednesday, November 24 at 8 p.m.A Hard Day’s NightThe Beatles’ first film follows the group over the course of one day as they deal with the pressures of touring, flee from their screaming fans, and perform their most beloved early songs like the title tune, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” and “I Should Have Known Better.”

10. Sunday, November 28Last day for the Holiday Wreath Display and Silent Auction

The Rochester's Young Professionals blog is the place to look for the latest updates on the young professionals scene in Rochester, from career advice to networking events.

Contributors

Kate McGowan is a former Rochester television news reporter now working in the non-profit sector for the nation’s leading children’s charity, Make-A-Wish. She is passionate about inspiring young professionals to use their talents in becoming more actively involved in their communities. Follow her on Twitter at @KateMcGowan

Toni Lynn Arena: I am a digital media specialist by day and a fitness loving, animal activist by night. When I'm not working on self-improvement inside and out, I work with other philanthropists to build awareness within the young professional community and help make a difference.

Andrea Raethka earned a bachelor's in History, Sociology and Women's Studies from the College of Brockport. She is a mother of three young children and is always up for exploring new places for kiddie play dates. She enjoys good food, local shopping and keeping up to date on news, politics and public school issues. Find Andrea on Twitter: @Mango1531.

Ashley Dewey is an internet marketing blogger from Victor who shares thoughts about life and pets.

Audrey Burns is a reader, writer and full-time nostalgist who writes about cultural and social issues in Rochester.

Cynthia Pacia shares thoughts about giving and living in the Rochester area.

Eastman Young Professionals share the latest happenings at George Eastman House.

Habitat for Humanity Young Professionals share life and non-profit experiences, and their journey within Rochester’s changing landscape.

Jason Schwingle is a native of Rochester. He shares his thoughts and ideas on bringing young professionals back to Rochester and to downtown.

Jenna Kempie is the Social Media Chair for the Rochester Young Professionals, and is contributing posts on RYP activities and other helpful insights for young professionals in the community. Jenna enjoys getting out and exploring the area, and talking to people about their Rochester experiences, print and technology - on and offline. Follow Jenna on Twitter: @JennaKempie

Jennifer Galvez Caton is an active arts volunteer who shares her passion and perspective on theater, film, dance and music with young professionals in the Rochester area.

Jerome Nathaniel is a 2011 graduate of the University of Rochester, where he was an executive editor for the Campus Times and a service fellow with the Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence. Now, the Brooklyn native has returned to Rochester as an Americorp Vista at Foodlink, where he's serving as a hunger advocate.

Kayleigh Nutting is a non-profit professional that came to Rochester for college and never left. She is a graduate student and works full time planning special events and fundraising. Follow her as she writes about kicking back, giving back and appreciating the Flower City.

Kristine Caronna, a young professional blogger from Greece, shares her thoughts and updates.

Leah Shearer is a young professional and two-time cancer survivor from Rochester. She shares her unique perspective on all things - the serious, the silly and everything in between.

Luticha Doucette is a student researcher, activist and humanist who sees the world from a seated position. She chronicles life as a disable person seeking a PhD. position in biophysics at Yale or John Hopkins universities, and beyond.

Maria Thomas is the chair of RocCity Coalition, who is passionate about education and the needs of city youth. She writes about various opportunities for young professionals to get involved in the community.

Olga Podzorov is an agent with Nothnagle Realtors. She is a community activist and passionate philanthropist who is committed to working with young professionals. She covers a variety of real estate issues.

Ruth Harper-Rhode, a St. Bonaventure University graduate, does public relations for a local nonprofit. She moved to Rochester from a small city in 2011 and lived on Park Ave before moving to Penfield, where she currently resides.

Terra Keller sends updates from the staff at Foodlink, a popular regional food bank.

Stefanie Schwingle is a Rochester native and has worked at Wegmans Corporation for the past 10 years, but her interests lie in entrepreneurship and communication and her passions include urban living, photography, and cooking. Stefanie lives downtown with her husband and loves everyday life in the city.

Taren Greenidge earned her B.A. in Economics and Political Science, cum laude, in 2007 from Spelman College and her J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 2010. She is an associate at Littler Mendelson, P.C, a U.S.-based international law firm exclusively devoted to representing management in every aspect of labor and employment law. Taren is the president of the Black Young Professionals of Rochester, an auxiliary of the Urban League of Rochester, N.Y., Inc., which targets individuals ages 21 through 40 to foster growth and professional development, to empower members to achieve success and to strive to improve the community.